Autism may reduce ability to read body language

UK scientists believe that autism prevents people from being able to read other people's body language to determine their feelings.

Researchers at the University of Durham played short video clips of body movements to adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The video clips did not show any faces or have any soundtrack.

Participants tended to find it difficult to identify the emotions of the people featured in the film clips.

ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOW

In addition, individuals who struggled the most with this task also tended to have difficulty detecting the direction in which a group of dots moved on a screen.

The researchers believe that the social interaction difficulties experienced by people with autism may be partly due to visual processing problems.

Lead researcher Dr Anthony Atkinson, from the university's psychology department, commented: 'The way people move their bodies tells us a lot about their feelings or intentions, and we use this information on a daily basis to communicate with each other.

'People with autism are less able to use these cues to make accurate judgements about how others are feeling. Our research attempts to find out why.'

According to the National Autistic Society, over 500,000 people have autism in the UK.

The lifelong developmental disability is a 'spectrum' condition, meaning that it affects individuals with varying degrees of severity.

The materials in this web site are in no way intended to replace the professional medical care, advice, diagnosis or treatment of a doctor. The web site does not have answers to all problems. Answers to specific problems may not apply to everyone. If you notice medical symptoms or feel ill, you should consult your doctor - for further information see our Terms and conditions.